Offchurch Bury - History

History

In the 13th century the manor was held by Coventry Priory, a confirmation of the original charter by Henry III in 1267 implies that the place was in possession of this priory from its foundation in 1043. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the manor was acquired in 1542 by Sir Edmund Knightley. The family held the manor until after the death in 1911 of Jane Knightley, wife of Heneage Finch, 6th Earl of Aylesford (d.1871). The manor was purchased afterwards by Joseph Watson, a soap manufacturer from Leeds, in 1922 created 1st Baron Manton of Compton Verney. Watson used the estate for his venture into industrialised agriculture, but continued to live at Linton Spring, near Wetherby, Yorkshire, until 1921 when he purchased the mansion at Compton Verney, near Offchurch, where he intended to reside, yet he died unexpectedly in 1922, of a heart attack whilst hunting and was buried at Offchurch. His son and heir Miles resided for a while at Compton Verney, whilst his widow Claire, Baroness Manton, lived at Offchurch Bury until her death in 1936, when the manor was purchased by Harry Johnson, a textile manufacturer from Coventry and Macclesfield, whose descendants still occupy the property in 2011.